2 fatal CHP shootings in Oakland highlight peril

Updated 6:12 pm, Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Authorities are investigating two fatal shootings of suspects by California Highway Patrol officers, both after chases through East Oakland.

In each of the incidents on Tuesday - one in the early morning hours, the other at night - CHP officers shot and killed an armed suspect who had fled from a vehicle, police said.

"The concept of a routine traffic stop and routine patrol is a misnomer," CHP Officer Daniel Hill, an agency spokesman, said Wednesday. "In these two cases, officers made enforcement stops for vehicles without license plates and encountered individuals that were armed and prepared to engage law enforcement."

The latest incident happened about 9 p.m. Tuesday when two CHP officers with a police dog stopped a Toyota 4Runner with paper license plates on the 5200 block of Wentworth Avenue.

A passenger, whose name hasn't been released, fled on foot while armed with a loaded handgun, said Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland police spokeswoman. The officers deployed their dog and chased the man on foot, she said.

"The K-9 engaged the suspect, and both officers discharged their service weapons and the suspect was struck," Watson said.

During the incident, the K-9 was accidentally struck by CHP gunfire, police said. The dog was expected to survive.

Hours earlier, at 2:45 a.m., police said, two CHP officers shot and killed Antonio Mestas, 19, of Oakland after he fled from a stolen BMW X5 with a loaded gun on East 15th Street.

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